The Veteran's appeal regarding his loss of sense of smell was dismissed. His claim for a 10% initial evaluation for loss of taste associated with TBI is granted, and he is now assigned a 70% rating for residuals of TBI.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the loss of sense of smell at the hearing. The VA examiner found partial loss of taste but the Veteran's testimony was deemed more credible. His memory, attention, concentration, and executive functions were rated as moderate impairment under the criteria for cognitive impairment in TBI.
- Claimed conditions
- Loss of sense of smell, Loss of sense of taste, Residuals of TBI
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- March 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19119946
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19119946.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection and earlier effective dates for tension headaches and lower back condition. The remaining issues of service connection for eye, neck, persistent cough, TBI residuals, and bilateral leg conditions are REMANDED.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a higher rating for PTSD but granted separate ratings of 70 percent for residuals of TBI and 10 percent for tinnitus associated with TBI, effective from February 3, 2014, and May 2023 respectively. The claim for an initial rating higher than 10 percent for psychomotor epilepsy was also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board granted readjudication of the claim for service connection for loss of sense of smell due to new and relevant evidence, but remanded it for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 30, 2014, for the award of service connection for major depressive disorder and several other conditions related to Parkinson's disease.
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